But the gardens are irrigated, so the harvests roll on. Let's start with the new things this week. First, a lonely "Taxi" tomato, so sweet and delicious:
The Kitchen Goddess begged me to let her rob the potato patch. "Just two small ones," she said. Well, what she found was not exactly small, almost 11 oz.
Our first "Diva" cucumber of the season. Tasting it, I see what the fuss is about.
The last harvest of the week, with Swiss Chard, squash, carrots, a Diva, and of course, picklers!
OK, we seriously have a glut of picklers. What to do? People complain about zucchini overload, but at least it can be frozen. Picklers can really only become...pickles. So TKG did some pickling. First, some lacto-fermentation for immediate enjoyment:
Then some long-term kosher dills:
Well, there goes a few pounds anyway. In search of ideas, I Googled "too many cucumbers." One site had some unusual suggestions. Maybe "All-Natural Vegan Dog Chew Toys?" And if you or your child likes to play with Mr. Potato Head, how about "Carla Cucumber?"
All right, I guess it's more pickles. You can give them away, right? "We like you guys so much, here's a gift of our unwanted pickles!" Actually, if it really gets out of hand, we can always pick them very small, and make cornichons. I like them, and we have plenty of tarragon.
Finally, TKG cleaned up the remaining garlic for storage. Note the obligatory US quarter-dollar coin for scale.
"German White":
"Music":
That's all for this week Thanks for reading! Please check out all the other Harvest Monday posts at Our Happy Acres. Thank you, Dave, for hosting Harvest Monday.
Well, too bad it's just one for now, but that Taxi tomato really is a perfect specimen. And so many cucumbers - I've got no suggestions for you though.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susie. The cucumbers are a "happy problem."
DeleteGood looking garlic, but remember the hardnecks only keep a few months so best to enjoy now. I am really envious of your cucumber glut. Pickles are not the only use. How about salads? Tomato/cucumber (but you need tomatoes). There's wilted cucumber salad (slice cukes and an onion, salt, let sit for a few hours, squeeze out the moisture, dress with vinegar, water and a little sugar.). German/nordic variant adds sour cream and dill. There are Thai and Japanese variants using fish sauce, tamari, lime juice, sesame oil, etc. There is also tzatziki sauce, cucumber sauce on poached fish, and cold cream of cucumber soup.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave. Those are all good suggestions.
DeleteOh the vagaries of gardening in New England--no rain and watering bans. Glad you have irrigation. So many cukes. Vegan dog chews! A little humor for Monday morning.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. We aren't supposed to have water problems here, but...
DeleteYour garlic is gorgeous! I'm so envious. Vegan dog chews. Too funny. I don't have any recommendations for cucumber gluts other than to not grow so many!
ReplyDeleteYou, envious of my gardening! Now I've heard everything.
DeleteThat is one big potato! You are all set for Mr Potato Head and Carla Cucumber ;) I definitely ended up with way too many cucumbers last year and made pickles and more pickles, over 40 jars, which is way too many! I planted less this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie. 40 jars of pickles is a lot!
DeleteWell, at least it is better to have too many picklers than not enough - I think! I'm not much help as I can't hardly keep up with the slicer I grow. I did enjoy a dish my wife made with cukes in yogurt sauce. And I do make tabbouleh salad with them, which also calls for a tomato or too. And count me as impressed with that big spud! I got less from a whole hill than you did with one potato.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Yes, there are plenty of uses for cucumbers. Unfortunately they only take two or so at at time!
DeleteLast year I had a glut of pickling cucumbers. After canning 40 jars I fed the rest to the rabbits. Yes the Divas are good. Since they don't need a pollinator I found they taste better when they get large and ripe. Do you inoculate your lacto-fermented vegetables?
ReplyDelete40 jars, yikes! TKG informs me that she did not inoculate the pickles. Whatever that means...
DeleteI grew Taxi many years ago and it was a favorite and a great short season variety. You certainly do have a lot of cukes! Better keep canning!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's what I'm commanding TKG to do!
DeleteLook at all those cucumbers, pretty amazing. Your artichokes and garlic look so great. All your summer vegetables are really coming in.
ReplyDeleteI second David on the tzatziki sauce, we eat it with little fried up rounds of Nature Burger in pita bread.
Thanks, Phuong. That sounds delicious...kind of like fallafel?
DeleteYes! Like falafel, but it's easier to make and not deep fried. We always add Lea Perrins Worcestershire to Nature's Burger.
DeleteOh, that's so funny about your pickles :). We aren't getting a "glut" yet, but they are picking up the pace where there are a few in the fridge still to use up. Unfortunately, no Diva's yet and I'm not sure if we will end up getting any as it had to be re-seeded and is now shaded by the others which are much further advanced.
ReplyDelete